Scam-A-Rama

BARABOO, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin seems to be in the sights of scam artists using fake checks and bogus sweepstakes promises to separate people from their money.

George and Violet Flores of Baraboo did some investigating this week and unmasked the offer they received as a fraud.

The letter appeared to be from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. It said they were winners of 250-thousand dollars in a sweepstakes. All they had to do was cash the check for just under five-thousand dollars that they had received, and send in 28-hundred dollars to cover taxes.

When they called the bank that issued the check, they learned the account had been closed. That meant the check would have bounced ... but only after their money went to the scammer.

They went straight to the Post Office to report the scam.

U-S Postal Inspector Lori Groen, who works out of Milwaukee, says she's working on five similar cases in the state right now ... and she suspects the scammers are targeting Wisconsin for some reason, because cases like that seem to come in waves.

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